The sky was shattering.
Jay stood at the edge of the elevated spire, windless air spiraling like coiled silk around his ankles. The dream world trembled, glitching at the seams, no longer a simulation, not quite reality. His eyes narrowed, and with each blink, the world briefly resolved into static before sharpening again.
Across from him stood Rei, silent as ever, his posture straight and precise. Shadows flickered at the edges of his frame. Unlike before, he was no longer phasing between memory states. Something had clicked. Stabilized. Perhaps even awakened.
And then there was Alicia.
Hovering just behind them on a lifted platform of light, her body pulsed faintly with ethereal glow, runes blooming and vanishing across her skin like living code. She was no longer being dragged along this journey. She had seized it, rewoven herself into it.
Jay lifted a hand. "So... what now? Are we saving this place, burning it down, or just figuring out who screwed up the most?"
